For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Jackie Greger, Jackie.Greger@sierraclub.org
Advocates rally to oppose dangerous ‘NJ DOGE’ bill
A coalition of advocates rallied at the Statehouse today to demand that the Legislature reject a dangerous bill that would implement New Jersey’s version of DOGE, putting the health and safety of New Jersey families while enriching billionaire corporate interests.
S4373 would gut New Jersey Administrative Procedures Act, which lays out the process by which agencies across state government implement new laws by publicizing regulations designed to protect New Jersey families.
The APA ensures that experienced, nonpartisan career professionals develop and implement regulations that carry out laws passed by the Legislature, including protections related to health and safety, consumer rights, education, and the environment.
Instead, S4373 would create layers of new red tape designed to delay or block the implementation of duly enacted laws, while opening the door to sweeping deregulation. The bill would also shift authority away from career experts and toward political appointees, putting New Jersey families at risk.
S4373 mirrors the same reckless approach to deregulation being pushed at the federal level through Donald Trump’s so-called Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE). In New Jersey, this bill would undermine long-standing safeguards that protect consumers, workers, public health, and the environment.
“At a time when Donald Trump is launching an all-out assault on the federal government to enrich his billionaire campaign contributors at our expense, we need Trenton to step up and ensure that critical health and safety protections continue to be implemented in New Jersey,” said New Jersey LCV Executive Director, Ed Potosnak. “This bill is right out of the Trump playbook and puts New Jerseyans at risk. The Legislature must reject this bill and focus on Trump-proofing our state — not doubling down on his extremist agenda.”
"The DOGE for New Jersey bill (S4373) would prevent the incoming Governor and all future Governors from protecting the lives, health, welfare, safety, and property of residents and businesses in the Garden State," said Jennifer M. Coffey, ANJEC Executive Director. "It would drop bales of red tape onto the already too often slow place of government work. It is the opposite of efficiency and good government. It would interfere not only with environmental protection including clean drinking water regulations, but also health regulations, and workplace safety standards. The Legislature must reject DOGE for New Jersey."
“Indivisible Cranbury stands with our allies in opposing S4373, the NJ DOGE Bill,” said Lisa Sanon-Jules of Indivisible Cranbury. This bill undermines New Jersey’s commitment to transparency and flexibility. By restricting local governance, the bill limits the type of responsible decision-making necessary to reflect the needs and voices of New Jersey residents.”
"New Jersey lawmakers are copying a failed federal DOGE model," said Nicole Rodriguez, President of New Jersey Policy Perspective. "This bill would gut the ability of state agencies to enact basic rulemaking functions under the vague banner of 'efficiency' — putting protections for workers, public health, and the environment at risk. It's the same playbook we've seen at the federal level: bypass expert agencies and second-guess their work on ill-defined economic grounds. Instead, lawmakers should focus on providing agencies with the robust staffing necessary to enforce their missions, not another layer of red tape."
“The New Jersey Legislature should be focused on advancing legislation that strengthens transparency and accountability, not undermining core government functions. S4373 gambles away public safety under the false promise of efficiency,” said Erik Cruz Morales, Director of Democracy, League of Women Voters of New Jersey. This bill adds bureaucratic barriers that delay the implementation of critical laws and shifts power away from experienced, nonpartisan professionals toward political appointees, opening the door to special-interest influence. That is not reform, it is a rollback.”
“One of the keys to protecting the Pinelands – which encompasses over one million acres that house dozens of rare plants and animals and provide trillions of clean drinking water – is strong regulations,” said Michael Klein, Director of Government Relations of the Pinelands Alliance. “Senate Bill No. 4373 would weaken regulatory protections in several ways, chief among them a new cost-benefit analysis that would place the interests of businesses over the environment. The value of clean water, clean air, and safe habitats cannot be reduced to a cold cost-benefit analysis, which is why the Pinelands Alliance opposes the bill.”
“The New Jersey Sierra Club strongly opposes bill S4373 and any attempt to mirror Elon Musk’s dangerous and anti-democracy ‘DOGE’ agenda that would sow doubt and stall critical rulemakings that would protect the environment and communities,” said Anjuli Ramos-Busot, New Jersey Chapter Director of the Sierra Club. This legislation would dramatically undermine the delegated authority of our state agencies to do their job of protecting the people of New Jersey by ensuring our safety and that we have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. We urge legislators at the statehouse to stand against this bill.”
“S4373 is a bill seeking a problem. The proposed “fixes” will make it more difficult to update regulations or to even renew existing regulations,” said Michael Pisauro, Policy Director of the Watershed Institute. “Adding additional duplicate or unnecessary requirements will not make rulemaking better or more efficient. The creation of a ‘Commission of Efficiency and Regulatory Review’ will only serve as a disincentive to updating regulations and intrudes into the role of the executive branch. If S4373 is enacted it will make it more difficult for agencies to protect New Jerseyans and NJ’s environment. At a time when the Federal Government is attacking environmental protection it is wrong to make it more difficult for the NJ government to respond.”
“New Jersey has weathered this administration much better than other states and we are too humane and progressive to have an illegal Federal Department destroying the stability of our State,” said Sharonda Allen, MPA, Executive Director of Operation Grow Inc. “The Scamming of America must be halted, since DOGE has been THE waste and fraud, hijacking our economy and destroying the lives of many Americans and falsifying the facts about National expenditures. We don’t need this type of corruption in New Jersey and we must fight to maintain civility, transparency, and disallow this reckless department from disrupting American lives any further.”
“We’ve already seen at the federal level how rushed cuts and unchecked authority can be detrimental to essential services and people in general,” said HPAE president Debbie White. “We don’t need this in New Jersey. Our state deserves better, not a carbon copy of a destructive federal agency.”
"The lame duck legislative session is generally not when transparency issues rise to the top at the State House,” said Doug O'Malley, Director of Environment New Jersey. “This bill proves the point -- this is the Red Tape Review Commission on steroids. This is clearly an overreach that would allow industry another opportunity to slow down and derail agencies working to protect our environment and public health. We urge the Legislature not to move this bill.”
"The attempt to implement a DOGE style commission at the state level is a giveaway to businesses that would lead to policies that hurt workers, our communities, and the environment," said Deb Coyle, Executive Director of NJ Work Environment Council. "DOGE turned out to be a major failure at the federal level that hurt people while providing no savings, so why would our state legislators think we should implement it here?"
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About the Sierra Club: The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information about our work in New Jersey, visit www.sierraclub.org/new-jersey